This invention relates to machine readable record members, such as merchandise marking tags and the use of codes thereon. Marking tags using concentric rings, of, for example, light-reflective and non-reflective areas have been used to encode information such as price and inventory control numbers for merchandise.
As more use is made of this type of marking tag the demand for additional information to be recorded on the tags also increases. The most obvious way to increase the information carrying capability of the tag is to add additional rings to those already there. The size of this tag then increases by at least one ring width for each additional digit of information.
One prior art marking tag that is of interest is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,612,994 entitled "Classifying Apparatus and Method," by N. J. Woodland et al. The tag is disclosed in FIG. 10 of the patent consisting of concentric circular rings of particular line colors and/or particular line position. Coding of the tag is accomplished by selecting the desired rings of colors and/or by varying the line positions of the selected rings.
As mentioned above the obvious way of carrying more information with this type tag is to increase the number of rings of reflective material.
Another prior art tag of interest is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,671,722 entitled, "Transition Code Recognition System," by J. B. Christie, which patent is assigned to NCR Corporation, the assignee of the present application, and wherein a rectangular tag having bars of color is used. In order to increase the amount of information carried by this type of tag the length of the tag has to be increased proportionately by the amount of added information.
From the foregoing it can be concluded that a need exists for a record medium, such as a marking tag, with increased data recording capability. In addition the record medium should have the capability of being easily and economically coded by merchants and lend itself to small batch handling. The tags presently in use have to be printed in large quantities in order to minimize the cost per tag, but in addition a large number of differently coded tags must be kept in stock to cover the many different prices assigned to pieces of merchandise. The printing process requires complex and expensive code printing machinery, which means that small businesses must purchase the labels already coded. The record medium of the present invention, aside from carrying large quantities of data, also lends itself to merchant coding with relatively inexpensive code printing devices. It should be noted that the present invention is in no way limited to merchandise marking tags, since it is also suitable for other uses.